1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



281 



FROCSSDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 

 Hay 14.— Major Sabixe, R..\., V.P., in the Chair. 



The following papers were read : — 



" Tables of the Varialion, through a cycle of nine years, nf the mean height 

 of the Barometer, mean Temperature, aiul deptli of Rain, as connected with 

 the prevailing Winds, influenced in their direction by the occurrence of the 

 Lunar Jpsides, with some concluding observations on the result." By Luke 

 Howard, Esq. 



From the tahles here given, tlie author draws the following conclusions '■ 

 1st. the barometer is higher under the lunar apogee, than under the perigee ; 

 the mean height in the former case being 29-84517, and in the latter. 

 29,75J42. 2nd. the mean temper.ature is lower under the apogee than 

 under^the perigee ; the mean height in the former case being 48"-712G, and of 

 the latter, 49=-035G. The mean of the whole year was 48°-7126. 3rd. The 

 rain of the weeks following the apsis exceeds that uuder the perigee ; hut 

 with two striking exceptions in the annual result of nine years, the one in 

 the wettest, and the other in the driest year of the cycle. With regard to 

 the winds, the author remarks that those from the north, north-east, and 

 east, prevailed under the apogee on thirty-eight days, uuder tlie perigee on 

 twenty-one days; and those from the south, south-west, and west, prevailed 

 under the apogee on twenty days, under the perigee on tliirty-eight days. It 

 appears, therefore, that in the climate of London, the moon in her perigee 

 brings over us the southern atmosphere, which tends to lower the density 

 and raise the temperature of the air, oceasiouing also a larger precipitation of 

 rain. In the apogee, on the contraiy, there is a freer influx of air from the 

 northward, a higher barometer, a lower temperature, and less rain ; subject, 

 however, to a large addition of rain under this apsis twice in a cycle of nine 

 years, at the times when also the extremes of wet and dry take place on the 

 ■whole amount of the year. 



May 21. — The JL\rquis of Xorthamptox, President, in the Chair. 



His Royal Highness Prince Albert, of Saxe-Cohurg and Gotha, attended 

 the meeting, signed his name in thechartir-book, and was admitted a Fellow 

 of the Society. William Burge, Esq., AValter Ewer, Esq., T. T. Giant, Esq., 

 and Henry Lawson, Esq., were balloted for, and didy elected. 



The following papers were read : — 



" Remarks on the Meteorological Olisertmtions made at Allen, F>nmarien< 

 by Mr. S. H. Thomas, in the years 1837, 1838, and 1839. By Major Sabine, 

 E.A., and Lieut.-Col. Sykes; being a Report from the Committee of Physics 

 to the Council." 



These observations, made at Alten, in lat. 69' 58' 3" north, and 23' 43' 10'' 

 east of Paris, would seem to have a claim to the attention of the Royal So- 

 ciety, as they offer the crpcrimentum crucis of Professor Forbes's empirical 

 formula respecting the gradual diminution of the daily oscillations of the 

 barometer, within certain limit hours, from the equator to tlie poles. Pro- 

 fessor Forbes has laid down an assumed curve, in which the diurnal oscilla- 

 tion amounts to 'llOO at the equator and in lat. 64° S' N., and beyond that 

 latilute the tide should occur with a contrary sign, plus becoming minus. 

 Now, Alteu being nearly in lat. 70', if Professor Forbes's law hold good, the 

 maxima of the diurnal oscillations should occur at the hour for the minima 

 at the equator, and a similar inversion should take place with respect to the 

 minima. Mr. Thomas has himself however modified the value his observa- 

 tions would otherwise have had, by adopting 2 p.m., instead of 3 p.m., for the 

 hour of his observations for the fall ; and he has adapted his barometrical 

 obsenations to a mean temperature of 50° Fahr., instead of 32'. The first 

 year's obsei'vatious commence on the 1st October, 1837, and terminate on 

 the 30th of September, 1838. The barometer stood sixty-six feet five inches 

 above low-water mark, and the thermometer hung at sLx feet above the 

 ground ; but care was not always taken to prevent the sun shining on it. 

 The mean height of the barometer for the year was 29'''771, and the mean of 

 the thermometer at the freezing point was 32''01 7. The maximum height 

 of the barometer was 30°'89 in January, and the minimum 28°-71 in October. 

 The mean of the barometer at 9 a.m. was 29'-7G4, therm. 33''455 ; at 2 p.m. 

 29'-765, therm..3.3'-327; and at 9 p.m.29'-784, therm. 29'-270. The diurnal 

 observations would seem to support Professor Forbes's theory ; but the 9 p.m. 

 observations are entirely opposed to it, as they appear with the same maxi- 

 mum sign as at the equator, whereas the sign ought to have been the reverse ; 

 indeed, with respect to the diurnal observations, the mean of five inonths of 

 the year at 9 a.m. gives a plus sign, although the mean of the year at 9 p.m. 

 only gives the trifling quantity of 001 plus. There is one remarkable feature 

 in these observations that cannot fail to strike the meteorologist. M. Arago, 

 from nine years' observations at Paris, reduced to the level of the sea, makes 

 the annual mean height 29'.9546; twenty-one years' observations at JIadras 

 make it 29''958 ; and three years' observations at Calcutta, by Mr. James 

 Prinsep, make it 29°-764 ; and Mr. Thomas brings out 29°'771. That there 

 should be this coincidence between the observations at Calcutta and .\lten is 

 curious. Neither Mr. Thomas nor Mr. Prinsep state whether or not their 

 means are reduced to the level of the sea. It is to be suspected they are not 

 For the next year, that is to say, from October 1838 to September 1839, both 



inclusive, Mr. Thomas uses a French barometer and French measurements, 

 with centigrade thermometer attached to the Iiarometer, and Fahrenheit's for 

 the detached thermometer. He changes his time of observation from 9 a.m. 

 to 8 A.M., 2 P.M., and 8 p.xr., and he reduces his barometrical observations to 

 centigrades. The results of the year are as follows : — mean annual pres- 

 sures 29-627 ; English thermometer, Fahr. 33'-36 ; greatest pressure in 

 April, least in Januarv 1 ! The mean of 8 a.m. is 29'-620 ; theriu. 33°-75. 

 The mean of 2 p.m. is 29'-631 ; therm. 34°-73. .\nd at 8 p.m. 29-631 ; 

 therm. 30'-75. The diurnal observations assist to support Professor Forbes's 

 theory ; but, as in the preceding year, the p.m. observation is at fault ; and if 

 the hour had been 9 o'clock instead of 8 o'clock, it woidd probably have been 

 more so than it appears. The low annual mean state of the barometer for 

 the 1837-8 is even increased in the last year's observations; and as fresh in- 

 struments* appai-ently have been used, there appears some ground to believe 

 that the fact is associated with the locality, and it may be desirable not only 

 to record in the Proceedings of the Royal Society the data already supplied, 

 but to recommend to Jlr. Thomas more particular inquiry on the subject. 

 The phenomena of the .Aurora Borealis appear to have been observed by Mr. 

 Thomas with great assiduity, and recorded with great care. On examining 

 the registci-, with reference to M. Erman's important remark, that " in Siberia 

 two kinds of aurora are distinguished, one having its centre in the west, and 

 the other in the east, t'ue latter being the niore brilliant." I find that twenty- 

 two nights occur in the course of the two winters, in which the formation of 

 arches of the aurora is noticed and their direction recorded ; of these, ten are 

 to the west, having their centres rather to the southward of west, the arches 

 extending from N.M'. to S.S.E. and S.E. ; sei-en are to the cast, or more pre- 

 cisely to the southward of east, the arches extending from N.E. to S.E. and 

 S.W. Of the five others, four ai-e said to he from east to west across the 

 zenith, and cannot therefore be classed with either of the preceding, and one 

 is noticed generally as being to the north. The facts here recorded appear 

 to afford an evidence of the same nature as those mentioned by M. Erman, 

 as far as regards their being tw-o centres of the phenomena. In respect to 

 the relative brilliancy of the eastern and western aurora, nothing very decided 

 can be inferreil from the register. If. as M. Erman supposes, that they may 

 be refen-ed respectively to " les deux foyers magnetiques de I'heniisphere 

 boreal," it is proper to notice tliat the position of .\lten is nearly miilway be- 

 tween those localities. There can l)e no doubt that the frequent appearance 

 of the aurora, and the pecidiarities of the phenomena observed there, render 

 it a most desirable quarter for a magnetical and meteorological observatoi-y. 



Edw.^rd Sabine. 



^\. H. SVKES. 



'^ Second Letter on the Electrolysis of Secondary Compounds, addressed tor 

 Michael Faraday, Esq." By J. F. Daniell, Esq. 



The author, in this letter, prosecutes the inquiry he had commenced in the 

 former one. into the mode in w-hich the chemical elements group themselves 

 together to constitute radicles, or proximate principles. He considers his 

 experiments as establishing the principle that, considered as electrolytes, the 

 inorganic oxy-acid salts must be regarded as compounds of metals, or of that 

 extraordinary compound of nitrogen and four equivalents of hydrogen to which 

 Berzelius has given the name of ammonium, and compound anions, chlorine, 

 iodine, &c., of the Haloide salts ; .and as showing that this evidence goes far 

 to establish cxpei-imentally the hypothesis originally brought forwai-d by 

 Davy, of the general analogy in the constitution of all salts, whether derived 

 from oxy-acids or hydro-acids. Some remarks are made on the subject of 

 nomenclature, and the rest of the paper is occupied with the details of the 

 expei-iments, all bearing on the important subject which he has undertaken to 

 investigate. 



May 28. — Francis Baily, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 



The following papers were read : — 



" Meteorological Register kept at Port Arthur, Van Diemeu's Land, during 

 the year 183S, and Register of Tides at Port Arthur, from August 1838 to 

 July 1839, both inclusive." By Deputy-Assistant-Com.-Gen. Lempriere. 

 Communicated by Sir John Franklin, R.N. 



•' Notire relative to the form of the Blood-particles of the Ornithorhynthus 

 hgstri^r." By John Davy. 



.\ poi-tion of the blooil of the Oniithorhynehus hystrxx, mixed when fresh 

 with a strong solution of common salt, being examined by the author, exhi- 

 bited a few globules of irregular shape. Another portion, preserved in syrup, 

 contained numerous globules, most of v\-hich had an irregidar form, but many 

 were circular ; none, however, were elliptical, like those of birds. Hence the 

 author concludes, that in form they accord more with those of mammalia. 



"Researches on Electro-Chemical Equivalents, and on a svpposed discre- 

 pancy between some of them and the Atomic Weight of the same bodies, as de- 

 duced from tlie theory of Isomorphism." By Lieut.-Col. P. Y'orke. 



The author describes various experiments made with a view to determine 

 the electro-chemical equivalents of sodium and potassium. Three experiments 

 gave, respectively, 22-3, 22-9, and 25, .as the equivalent of the former; and 

 two other experiments gave, respectively, 45 and 41-7 as the equivalent of 

 ihe latter of these substances. He then inquires -nhat -would be the result of 



* It appears that the barometer was compared before leaving France, and 

 subsequently to its being taken back to that country. 



